Some of you may be wondering what I will speak on today: Well there have been a few things said in recent days concerning what I have said about 2004 ½. I never did say you would be gone in the rapture by 2004 ½. I really think that is all some people listened to it for. I told you how to look at certain things that would transpire, things that would lead to certain other things, which actually means, let us take everything into accountability in the time ahead of us. I will say this, Part of it has already been in motion now for the last three years. Yes, it has. Either you have not been listening to the News, or you were just listening for something you wanted to hear. I have quite a lot of material to read from, and to speak from, so please bear with me. There are a lot of scriptures, but I have no intention of just reading scripture after scripture and making the subject dull to you. I will begin my remarks by saying this, Back in 1993, is when I had this dream. I was not praying or looking for anything, but I had been wondering, through the years, especially in the past twenty years, as I would hear different preachers speak of how the end time would unfold, and I must say, I heard many TV preachers say the antichrist will make a covenant with Israel, so she can build her temple. Well I thought, There is really no Bible for that statement. Nowhere does it say that covenant is going to allow Israel to build her temple. In fact, we are going to prove by the Bible that the temple will already be in the process of being built when it becomes necessary for such a covenant as we have spoken of to be introduced. There are many scriptures in the Bible that most of the preachers of today never even touch; and that is because they look at them as though they are not relative, not unimportant, or they have already passed somewhere and we just did not realize it. Well that is not true: There are many scriptures that standing alone, do not give us a recognizable picture, but as the Spirit of God leads us to connect them together, they make a very clear picture. That is what I want to call to your attention in this message.
A DREAM THAT REVEALS FUTURE EVENTS
As this dream I am going to speak of, started, I saw myself sitting in a very well lit room. I do not think it was because of the lights in the room: it was the presence of Him that was above me, and speaking to me, that lit up the room. I had my Bible in hand, and was sitting in a chair when the voice from above said, I will now show you the order of my coming. I began to hear certain words; and I remember, that in the dream from the one phase to the other, I would be saying to my wife, Honey: This is going to lead to something very important. Then again I would hear this voice saying certain numbers. I did not know what the numbers were actually pointing to, but nevertheless these numbers kept coming. As I continued to watch and listen, I saw that after awhile there was a huge gathering of people. I remember, that in the dream I was telling Faith Assembly, Watch these words and these numbers, because this is going to give us an understanding of something related to the soon coming of Jesus Christ. It seemed as though we were all converging in a certain place. I could see people from all over the world converging toward this great big building. I do not know whether the building was a symbol or what, but as we converged in this building, I remember, that as I myself and Faith Assembly were allowed to enter in, there were two large glass doors. There were no guards, no ushers or anyone stationed at the doors, but I did notice after we got inside, that every person that was in there had in their hand a little bottle about the size of your finger. I knew that little bottle contained the Holy Anointing Oil. We know, that in the scriptures it is referring to a type of the Holy Spirit. I knew, as I looked back toward those glass doors, nobody would ever come through those glass doors unless they had the little bottle of oil. The reason I am telling this, is because I want to say to the people that have followed my ministry and listened to me, You may think you can take certain portions of my words and run down the road preaching your own revelation, but I say to you, Just go ahead and do that: It will never get you anywhere. I never told the last part of this dream when I first told it. As we were all waiting for something, like a climax, I knew everybody sitting in there, was sitting in there all believing the same thing. I say to you this morning, It is important that we all believe the same thing. This contrary thing causes some to say, Well I don’t have to believe everything like you do, so I say this, Either you will want to, or God will see that you are so far away from where we are, you will forget that we even existed. Nevertheless, all of a sudden, I saw standing in front of this large gathering of people, the image of Bro. William Branham: It just suddenly appeared there. I know for sure, that from the Branham movement standpoint, they have preached for years that Bro. William Branham has got to come back and finish up certain things. I have always preached against that idea, because I know God is not bringing anybody back from the dead to do anything. Remember that! An idea like that can only lead you to a dead end, spiritually speaking. I remember telling Billy Paul one time, that it would not surprise me in the final analysis, if God used certain men and let the image of William Branham appear to them and tell them certain things. We have a lot of religious-minded people in the world today, that think they know all about the Bible, but I say to them, Just do not play with it. There is a right revelation of course, but there are many false interpretations that only lead to doubt and eventually total unbelief. Let us go back to the advent of Christ. Jesus was speaking to a multitude of His followers one day and said, (Mat 16:28) “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” Did He not say that? Well let us see how that was brought about. The next verse says, “ And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light.” Now be sure you catch this next verse, because it reveals something to those who do. (Mat 17:3) “And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him.” Did you catch it? God did not literally bring Moses and Elijah back to life for this: He just allowed their image to appear to Jesus and talk with Him about the things He would soon suffer. Why then, could He not bring the image of William Branham before chosen vessels, to speak to them of things to come? Naturally the carnal minds misunderstood what was happening, but that is always the case. Many days after Jesus made that statement, He took Peter, James and John as witnesses, up into a high mountain. Then, all of a sudden the glory of God came down and He was transfigured before their very eyes. They were literally caught up in a vision. In each one’s vision they saw Moses and Elijah of old, but I ask you, How did they know them? Peter revealed the names, Moses and Elijah as he said what he did to Jesus. Peter said unto Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias” That shows that they knew them. They heard Moses and Elijah of old, not the literal fleshly men, but their image’s were projected by the power of God, and those disciples heard those two prophets talking to Jesus about the things that He would soon suffer, hanging on that old cross, things that are not even written in the scriptures. Jesus knew that one day He would give His life according to the scriptures; and the apostle Paul wrote in Galations about it, saying, (Gal 3:13) “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” Yes, Jesus knew exactly how He was going to leave this world, but it is not written, really, the things He would suffer. However the image of those two prophets that appeared to Him, told Him what was ahead and those three witnesses heard it. They heard them talking to Jesus about the things He would suffer, but when they came out of the vision, all they could see was Jesus only. The prophets could not be seen any longer. Then Jesus took them and left there; and as they walked along what did He do? He admonished them, Tell the VISION to no man until, until what? We can read it in (Matthew 17:9) “And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.” Please take note that He did not say that they had literally seen Moses and Elijah in the flesh. Did He? Let us get it like it is worded, They had seen and heard all of this in a vision; and they were not to speak of it until after the Son of man is risen from the dead. Now if there was a reason at that time for God to bring those two prophets from the Old Testament dispensation right up there just before the advent of Christ being crucified, He was without a doubt showing those disciples of that hour, that way down the road, in the time leading up to the second coming of Christ, that second coming would be preceded by Moses and Elijah coming to Israel before He would make His visible return. The point I am getting at is this: We are all looking forward to something that God will speak and make known to His Bride Church. You do not hear anyone in the denominational world of religion today, talking about the coming of the Lord and the things true believers are to look for, like, what is going to be going on just before His return. They treat the thing as though it is unimportant, and say, Well God will take care of it at the right time. He definitely will, but if it is written in His Word what we are to be expecting, it definitely has t to have a meaning to those who have a true revelation. Therefore I am saying, I believe, that right here at the end time, since there are a lot of believing people of another generation, a younger generation that has raised up since Bro. William Branham was taken from among us, that believe the things he brought forth, so instead of looking for a man to come back from the dead to tell them something, I believe God has a ministry on earth today, a ministry He has caused to be looking in the right direction. Therefore I ask that you do not think I have gone crazy when I say this, If all of a sudden those men come on the scene and begin to relate an experience that Bro. William Branham just appeared to them and caused them to understand such and such and told them things to get ready for, and what to relate to the people, I am saying, When he appears to one in a vision, it will be to convey something that will be for the living ministry to make known to the people of God. The next man does not have to repeat the same words exactly like He heard them. His spirit can be different, but the things he has seen and the things the man’s image told him, are all going to add up and line right up with what he already knows. How many are listening to me? It is foolish to think that every man would speak exactly the same words. That is not the important thing. What is important, is that the words spoken by these true men of God all point to the same thing, so that all may see the same picture. It is the general picture and final outcome and objective and purpose of God, that we all might learn and all see the same thing, because this will have to happen around the world. Jesus is not coming just to a bunch of people here in the United States. I am against this thing that says the bride has to be all gathered geographically in one spot. I believe there are certain areas where God has manifested Himself in a major way to cause the truth for the hour to be echoed around the world. I am thankful for what God has allowed Faith Assembly to be used for in these past forty years. Therefore as we approach the end, and we are looking to God to help us get ourselves ready, I know that we are all to wind up believing the same thing. I do not want anyone to think they have to follow Raymond Jackson word for word, and comb your hair like I do, put your shoes on like I do, in order to be acceptable to the Lord. I have done my best for the past number of years to be a little example of Jesus Christ for the benefit of others. The things I have said, I always pray that they can have some sensible meaning for the benefit of true believers. As for what I have said about Brother Branham appearing to someone in a dream or vision, shortly after his death, he appeared to me in dreams on many occasions, and made known to me things, that as I look back now, I realize how very important that was, because I was led to study those things in the light of the written word of God. I cannot help but believe it was those encouraging things that helped me to walk down this road without getting off the trail, especially as the Branham movement preachers would call my name and proclaim, He is not in the message: he is not teaching what the prophet taught. Well I have taught what the prophet preached on, and I have done my best to give meaning and understanding to the subjects he introduced without really teaching on them; and I thank God for enabling me to do that. With that in mind, let me get back to the dream. As I sat there, I kept whispering to the people, Listen, we are going to hear something. That image began to say things, everybody heard it alike. Everybody began to rejoice, a smile was creeping upon our faces. I kept saying, What did I tell you? Then just as suddenly as it started, it all came to an end. When I woke up, the first thing I remembered was those numbers, then those words. I said, They have to be certain chapters of certain writings of certain prophetic books. That is the words. When I began to study these things, that is when the Lord opened up to me this beautiful picture that I am going to talk on this morning. I am not titling it, “The Countdown”, I am saying rather, “Jerusalem, The Centerpiece”. It has all been written here in God’s Bible for hundreds of years. It is a shame that the denominational world of religion looks at it as though it is irrelevant. I am glad this morning that God has allowed this book to have more meaning than that to me.
CONDITIONS THAT ARE AHEAD
Turn with me to Zechariah 12, for our next scripture of this message. After the Lord had spoken to me in the manner I described to you and I began to see these numbers and the names of these books and chapters, when I began to read I could see a picture begin to form in my mind. (Verse 1) “The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretchest forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. (Verse 2, gives us the important thing to look at.) Behold, (it means pay attention) I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about.” Did you know, this prophecy was written four hundred and eighty some years before the advent of Christ, but the prophet was looking down at the end of time and he saw exactly the hour that you and I are living in. I am reading it to you as the prophet of old, in Hebrew, would write it. However when we come on down almost twenty five hundred years, I believe the prophet, if he were living in this day, and speaking the language of this hour, the thought would be there, but it would be conveyed to you in a different verbal way, because of the time structure. Now as we look at this, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling, what is it pointing to? Is it the cup itself that is shaking? No. It is the ones that are ordained to handle it, they are faced with the responsibility of taking it and doing something. You cannot just sit there and look at it. Unto all the people, twenty four hundred years ago, who would all the people be that he was talking about? Does it mean all the people of the world? Not at all. It means that there is a specific people, in and around the area of Israel today and Jerusalem in particular, that are going to create this nervous, psychological, religious tension in the atmosphere. All the people round about: That is what it says, but that does not t mean the universal world: it points to all the Arab people in and around Israel. Who are these Arabs? They are descendants of Abraham, and they boast of it, but not one of them is willing to acknowledge that the Jewish side that came from Isaac have any rights there. “When they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.” Meaning the Jews, which are Israel. The word siege here does not mean a military encampment, but it literally means a political realm that is brought about by the Arab people. Somewhere in the proper order of time, they are going to rise up because of necessity. There are two things I want us to notice, You cannot separate one from the other. They both go together. When they shall be in the, I am going to say the diplomatic confrontation, when something is both against Judah, that is the tribe of Israel, and Jerusalem itself, you cannot separate one from the other. Don’t do it! I remember, in the six day war, it was absolutely a miracle, that in only six days Israel had conquered three nations, Egypt, Syria and Jordan. She literally devastated their military capabilities, which was something impossible for a little handful of people like that to have been capable of, but God was in it, on Israel’s behalf. That is the part that made it stand out. That is the part that made the mouths of politicians the world over drop wide open. Oh my God! Look at that! I have to say, If God was in that and showed His might like that, do not ever think that up the road in front of us, He will not do it again. When this verse comes to its hour, that verse 3, follows right in and it involves the whole world, because of the United Nations, God is going to let Himself be seen, not in a physical form, but they are going to see Him in His manifestations, as He sovereignly fights for Israel. They are going to be made to know that mortal man did not do this which they have witnessed, but rather that the God of heaven many of them did not want to believe in, did this. If the 3rd verse was not there, we would interpret this subject, this just involves the Arab people, but that is not all there is to it. “And in that day (that means the same period of time) will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, (He is not necessarily talking about the Arabs now: He is talking about the United Nations that will have made their presence known.) though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” That still does not mean there is a military encampment against Israel: it is a political environment that is against Israel. That is what you have been listening to for the past three years. The year 2001, stands out. They have always had terrorists bombings and such, but in 2001 there was another episode that broke out, and has not gotten any better since then. Hundreds of Israelis have been bombed, many killed and many more terrorized. It has gone on now, until the United Nations is voicing themselves loud and clear. Because of the picture I see, I want to read to you how I have rewritten these two scriptures to make them sound like a thought of our modern day. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the Arab people round about, (because that is who this is referring to) when they, the Arabs who are of the Islamic faith, and who are against Judah and against Jerusalem, refuse to give it over to the Jewish people. That is exactly the outcome of the whole thing. Look at our own president, coming from a Christian nation, or from a nation that has been looked upon as a Christian nation in days of old, yet he has not taken the Bible as the faith of the Christians, to let it be his guide. He has written the roadmap, that he wants the Israelis, the Jews, to be willing to accept, to allow a petition that there has got to be a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capitol. We have now listened to that for the last two and a half years. I have to say, There is no way, if we are getting close to the coming of Christ in the fulfillment of all this, that the world can stand for an interval of time while the whole world’s population stands and looks at such a thing. Can you imagine such a thing this close to the end, that part of the land of Judah belongs to the Palestinians, and the other part belongs to Israel? There is Jerusalem, and they are ready to make it the capitol of the Palestinian part. If we should see that come about, we would have to say that we have been looking at the whole structure of God’s word the wrong way. Saints, I am looking at what Jesus said in Matthew 24, as He spoke of these conditions leading up to the last days and the ending of time, and that the generation that sees this, the generation that has seen these developments of all these other signs, they will not all have passed away until all these things will have been fulfilled. That literally means some of those Jews that are over there today, that have lived through the holocaust, and seen their loved ones taken out and machine gunned to death, then dropped into pits to be buried, and some of those shot down were buried while half alive, will live to see the end windup. All of them are getting old, but there are still going to be some of them, along with some Gentiles that have seen all of this transpire, that will still be living witnesses of what has transpired in the last number of years and right on to the end. God is the one that has the whole thing in His hand. As I turn to this other verse, the 3rd verse, “And in that day (the same time period) will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone (That is when they try to take Jerusalem and say we will divide it, we will do this or that with it. No. The prophecy does not speak like that.) for all people; (who at that time will become very active in it, which the United Nations will be the main ones. Can anybody say that there is any other element of the world that is saying anything different? It is the United Nations. In fact, it was the United Nations that helped to engineer the petition of the land to the Israeli state back in 1948.) all that burden themselves (all that take responsibility, all that want to get involved and have a voice or become politically involved) with it shall be cut to pieces.” That is not my words: That is what the Bible says. I just have to say, It is important that we realize, that the United Nations does not play the part in Revelation 13, (the beast). There are preachers in denominations today, that are convinced the United Nations is the beast. That is a lie that came out of ignorance. The 13th chapter of Revelation, does not even talk about that. The beast cannot come out of the new world. All that burden themselves with it, or become politically involved, shall be cut to pieces. That simply means that God will destroy them in their aim and void all their efforts in trying to do something He will not allow to be done. “Though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” This shows that it is the United Nations. That is the only place that could apply; and having said that; and while we are there, I have something I want to read to you. I received this letter a few days ago from a man in Tanzania Africa; and I want everyone to hear it read.
READING A LETTER
“Dear Bro. Jackson, I greet you in the name of the Lord. As I was reading the Contender, issue number 110 of January 2004, on page 4, last column, I came across the following words. The United Nations was faced with the task of deciding what to do with all those people called Jews. At that time we had a president by the name of Harry Truman. We will give them a place back in the land of Israel, he said. (I remember when that was in our news.) These words struck me and made me realize that histories of wars have many facets. I say they have many facets because some years ago, before I became a Branham, end time message believer, I read some British historical record about the second world war and the creation of the state of Israel, which is somewhat different. As the British story goes, at some point in time of the second world war, the situation was getting a little rough on the part of the British armed forces. They badly needed something done to insure victory. David Ben-Gurion, a British Jew and scientist, was right from the start actively involved as a think tank in that British war effort. When the situation got desperate, they went to him and asked him concisely, of something that might tip the balance. Ben-Gurion fortunately came up with the bright idea in which he advised them to manufacture pilotless fighter planes, paint them with German military colors and insignia, fly them over Germany and hit Russia. That had the effect of Germany having to split it’s armed forces, an act which naturally weakened it’s onslaught on its western front line, a turn of events, which the British had all along been hopefully waiting for. When the war was over, the British government asked David Ben-Gurion what present he wanted them to give him. Ben-Gurion replied, since we are hated that much, please let us have our own nation. The British government obliged and so the idea of a Jewish nation was born. (Materialized through the United Nations.) During the petition meetings of Germany by the big four nations, U.S.A.,Russia, France and Britain, Britain presented to the others the idea of the need of the creation of a state of Israel for the Jews. The idea was fortunately unanimously agreed upon. But because of the awkward position Britain was in as the administrating leader, the role to have the idea pushed through the then League of Nations had to be left in the hands of the United States. Indeed, finally in 1948, Israel became a sovereign nation, no wonder with Ben-Gurion as its first president.” We know that Ben-Gurion believed very much in the Bible. If we could go back and get some of the speeches he made, we could see that he was a man very proud of what he believed, but the Zionist movement, which is what it was, had worked very hard against the religious side, and that is why the little country of Israel today, has never been allowed to really express itself in a diplomatic, military way, from a religious viewpoint, because of the political side of the leadership. When the Six Day War was forced upon them, it truly was a miracle brought about by the hand of God that enabled Israel to claim such a victory. At that time, many of the Jews said, Now we will build our temple. There were even Arabs that conferred with some Jews; and I have read the articles, that they said, We know that you people are going to build your temple. Well everything got bogged down and time moved on. Then September 11, 2006, brought about a condition that got all the political heads looking first one way and then the other. Somehow, as the wheels began to turn in the political realm, and the Jews find themselves playing ball with the ideas of others instead of building a temple, and the first thing you know they are more or less beginning to negotiate with the United Nations. That has led to this present hour we are living in. Now, as Israel has absolutely had to listen to this thing from Arial Sharon, him wanting Israel to get out of some of their villages in the Gaza Strip, as well as the West Bank, just keep in mind, the way they want to split this land denies the prophecy of becoming fulfilled, where it is talking about the whole of Judea. Since they have been living, more or less on a split issue for numbers of years, Sharon has agreed, We will leave some of the villages we have built. The Ezekiel prophecy says that the Israelis would come back in the last days and do what? They will build the ruined places, and they will inhabit the ruined places. So when the Six Day War was fought, then the average Jew in natural, just took it upon himself, Well I know exactly where my ancestors came from, the locality. That is what caused them to go there and begin to want to build a house, to become the starting of what was to be. So from 1967 up until now, both in the Gaza area as well as the west bank, all the way to the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, there are many Jewish villages. They did it because of what the prophet Ezekiel said, but here is Ariel Sharon, consenting to give it up, Yes we will accept the Palestinian state, so we will not only forsake Gaza, but we will also forsake certain areas of the West Bank. That has become the issue between the natural absolute majority of the citizenry and the political factor, how the world looks upon it. The whole world, United Nations speaking as a voice, wants there to be a Palestinian state with Jerusalem the capitol of it, which is completely contrary to prophecy. Now, since Sharon has been pushing this, the Arutz News, practically every day, has been publishing things that have been going on in the social realm of the average Jewish society and their homes, because they realize, that to give up places where they have built, the places where their children have been born, and where they are being raised, is tearing their dreams and their purpose of going there in the first place to do what Ezekiel said, all to pieces. Even those that are supposed to give up areas on the west side, all this means that instead of the tribe of Judaea being restored to its complete proximity, it is only to have a portion of ground, minus the capitol. The people see something wrong in that. Therefore in the last few days I have read where, on a certain day that is in front of us, thousands of those Jews, (They know the day they are going to do it.) are going to canvass the whole countryside of the Jewish people, in every village, and every home, and get them to sign a petition speaking against this thing of giving up land, giving up villages, homes, or anything. On another day, as a demonstration against this, there are supposed to be thousands of Jews from all over the land of Israel, demonstrating, lining themselves along the highways toward Jerusalem, as an open gesture, refusing to go along with giving up this land. That lets you know what the people are saying about this thing their politicians are doing. I have to say, This is the first time that the people of Israel are actually beginning to think seriously about what their future holds. Don’t forget what the Jewish people did back in the time of the Maccabees. When the hour comes that God will do exactly what He said in this next verse I am going to read, you are going to see a different picture begin to develop in the Jewish society. I have to believe this thing is not going to come about the way the United Nations wants it. Yes, the United Nations had been very much, I will say, a tormenting voice to a lot of our world diplomatic conditions and deals, but I will say this morning, They are sixty some years old, and they have not been worth a silver dime at any time since they started. The American public ought to wake up and realize, When we went into Korea, we went in, (I don’t know exactly how to word it), so I will just say, with the thought that somewhere, somehow from the United Nations there would be help made available. I believe Turkey, at that time, did send some troops, but they were not there long until they all went home. The poor United States forces fought some battles using our young men in the prime of their lives, and they died on Pork Chop Hill and all those places, and for what? We wound up right back where it all started from. No sooner did we do that, France has been kicked out of Vietnam: She was the colonial power. For some reason or other we thought we needed to go in. Oh yes, we Americans, we are going to be the police caretakers of the whole wide world, while this big United Nations that sits up there and dictates what ought to be and what ought not to be. Not one European has come to our rescue to help us with one iota. I forget how many months our men fought and died in the jungles of Vietnam and for what? We ended up letting the Communists have their portion. We have assumed, (the United States) that it is our responsibility to show what democracy really is, to the whole world. All the time we have done that, we have been sliding down hill, down hill, down hill, losing what we used to have. We are letting people come into this country and rob us of all our good qualities, especially of the material realm. If the United States had to fight another war like they did in WW2, they could not do it. Yet we have led the world, saying, What we are doing is what the world needs. While we are trying to make the world economically, a better place for the benefit of other nations, we are fast sliding down the ladder. One day in the future, our nation is going to wake up and find that they will no longer be able to say, Create jobs. They have already created just about the last there is to be created. Do you understand what I am saying? We have given all the good things of our nation to other nations. With that in mind, in the next verse God says, concerning this great political, social opposition that has set itself up to stand against Israel, but first let me read what some of the Jewish people are saying about all of this. This is talking about a bunch of Jews, they have been traveling to different gatherings, making speeches concerning this thing of giving up land.
READING
“Following lunch a panel discussion took place between Gush Kadif residents and the kibbutz visitors. Regional council head, Abner Shimona, began by providing a comprehensive overview of the twenty one communities, their wide ranging accomplishments and the need for continued settlement in the area. Labor Yetong then spoke and said that as one who comes from Israel’s defense community, (he used to be a military man) and as one who met with P.A. representatives in many official committees, he is convinced that we must separate from the Arabs and give up all of Gaza. (Now that is one branch.) Regional Rabbi Yagou spoke of the various streams of Zionism over the past one hundred years, and their accomplishments. He hinted that only faith and the confidence that God has given the land of Israel to the people of Israel to be run in the spirit of the Torah of Israel, and provide sufficiently strong roots and bonds with the land. (In other words, they are against it.) Most of the kibbutz speakers praised the Gush Kadif settlements enterprise, agreed that the residents had moved there in accordance with Israeli government decisions of both left and right and highly praised the agriculture. We disagree only regarding whether we are justified in remaining here now. They said most of them expressed a desire to continue the discussion at a future date in smaller frameworks. There is more that unites us than divides us, was a common conclusion.”
Now it has come out also in the News, that the United Nations has pressured the World Court, condemning this fence that Israel has built. You hear that in the News now, practically every News report includes it. Brothers and sisters: below here is what a senator of America says.
“Representative Lantos warns against Egyptians intentions–As Israel considers involving Egyptian troops in the aftermath of a withdrawal from Gaza, a United States congressman warns of Egypt’s intentions. Representative Tom Lantos of California, the ranking Democrat in the House International Relations Committee, says that Egypt is building up its military in preparation for a future war with Israel. He announced this week that he plans to introduce the legislation that will reduce and eventually eliminate the one and three tenths billions aide we give Egypt yearly.” He said Egypt is building up its military, and has purchased eleven different naval ships and it is trying to tell the Jews, Don’t ask Egypt to come to your help. Now all this is coming at a time when something in front of us is going to come to a head. Do not sit there and say it is not going to. It is moving right toward that. Sooner or later we are going to find out whether God’s word is right, or whether man’s words that contradict it are right. At this time, I will read the next verse. It is the 4th verse of the scriptures we were reading. “In that day, (the same time period) saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment.” That is the way the original scripture reads. You and I know this is not a day when we fight our wars with horses. Is it? Then how are you going to interpret this verse? It means the mechanical equipment of the enemy in that day, whether it is a tank, or whatever type of mechanized equipment they will be using, it is controlled and run by horsepower. Is it not? God said He will smite it and I believe He will. In that day, the Arabs would be able to boast and to come against the Jews with, God said He would smite it, meaning the enemy and all of its military leadership, with madness or insanity. “And I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.” That simply means, He will cause the mechanical means of the enemies’ weapons of warfare to cease to be effective. We are now living in the days when that which was written almost five hundred years before Christ, will soon come to pass. You and I are living in the days just before the coming of the Lord, so that means we are living in the framework of the time this prophecy must be fulfilled, so it is absolutely being applied to the present tense people and localities, to bring out the conditions of it. Naturally the devil is wanting to tear up everything he can, to keep the word of prophecy from being fulfilled, but his efforts will fail. It has been sixty years since WW2. Those Jews have struggled and longed for the time that is now so close at hand. I will have to say, Don’t tell me God is going to let them struggle for sixty more years, praying, aching, being killed, while we please this low down bunch of political Gentiles, in their United Nations effort to block what we know is soon to happen. Brothers and sisters, the United Nations organization is not the beast. Get that out of your mind, but the United Nations are still pulling a lot of strings that affect Israel and they will until God sees fit to destroy their ability to meddle. However the beast that we are looking for comes out of Europe. The beasts that we find written of in Daniel and Revelation all belong there. That is where all four of them began and they are going to end there. This United Nations is none other than a counterfeit that has fooled a lot of uninformed people for years. It is a shame that our political leadership of this nation, has swung about to take the sides of the carnal minded Arabs, and especially the Palestinians, to compromise and consent to do these things that are contrary to God’s Scriptures. Well let us now take a look at (verse 5). “And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God. (That is the way it was spoken more than two thousand years ago, but let us bring that into the present tense day we are living in, and the way we speak things. How would it be said? I am not changing the revelation of it, just the wording, which is how we catch the revelation.
ABOUT THE JEWS AND THE CITY OF DAVID
The governors of Judah shall say in their heart, “The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God.” You could read it, when they realize that Elohim is now giving them His protection. Something is going to begin to deal with their hearts. Then they will say, Now we know, when we see Jerusalem is inhabited by our fellow brethren, (which are Jews) The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. That is exactly the way it was in the days that King David took Jerusalem. It became a place where all David’s relatives came to live. That is why the city was first called the City of David. When all David’s relatives moved there, then later God showed David where to put the temple, and that is where He placed His name. From then on, wherever Israel fought, they looked toward Jerusalem to pray. How many understand that? That means when God placed His presence there, His name there, He intended that all protection and all that they would seek after, they would pray for it looking toward Jerusalem. When the Jewish people can suddenly begin to see that God is on their side, you know the political leadership, up until now, has been what they called the Zionist movement. It is a political thing; and it has had very little religious leadership. Oh they believe in the Torah, yes. They will keep the Sabbath, but that is just like a lot of Gentiles today: They will go to church on Sunday morning, but through the rest of the week they have very little to say about what they learned, what their convictions are, or anything concerning what they believe. Well it is one thing to be religious minded, that is just how we look at it, but it is another thing, how our heart’s and lives are dedicated to God, which is what helps us speak some of the things we do, looking at certain things the way we do, and then how to stand loyal and faithful to that conviction. Yes when the governors of Judah will begin to realize it is not like it was twenty or thirty years ago, and that they now have God looking at and for them. That is when I believe God is going to start giving some of those Jews dreams, or something of that nature that will affect their future outlook. Why do I say that? Because, when it said, God will open His eyes on Judah, that does not mean a little spot of ground with just a few men on it. God is looking at the whole picture and He is going to see that out of all that mess of Judaism, He is going to cause something to happen to their leadership. Those men are going to be dealt with. They are going to stop listening to Bush or anybody else. Because now they are going to begin to realize, It is not just the Torah: the word of the Lord goes beyond that. I am not reading out of the Torah, I am reading out of their prophets, because the Torah spoke a few things of the last days, but it did not go in detail and give you a clear picture of what the last days were to be like. It took their prophets later on, to really put the picture together; and not just one of them. That is why we have to look at these various verses like this, in order to put the picture together. When the governors begin to see the hand of God working in their behalf, then they are going to stop listening to Bush or anybody else. They are going to start listening to God. I say this morning, There is something going on in the Middle East right now; and only God Himself knows exactly the way it will be manifested and brought to a climax. I have to believe it is time that we begin to realize, back in 2001, Jerusalem started becoming a cup of trembling for many. We have seen it become a burdensome stone already; so we will soon see other developments. Now the United Nations wants to stick their two cents in, (You have to tear that fence down.) Well Sharon had it built to keep the terrorists out of their side of the picture, but I have to say, This thing is going to see saw back and forth for a while yet. It is going to get stronger, it is going to get rougher. As it reaches this point, I am going to read the 6th verse from the scriptures. “In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood.” Now you would have to be ignorant, not to know what that means. I will make the governors of Judah like a flame in a pile of dry wood. That is exactly what it means. The end of that is, “and they shall devour all the people (who? The Arabs.) round about, on the right hand and on the left.” So when that hour of time does come that the Jew have to take responsibility, notice the outcome, God is going to be in it in an outstanding way, and they will devour all the people round about, on the right and on the left. Who is it talking about? Not the U.N., but the Arabs that have been making their lives so miserable for so long. “And Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.” Read that along with the 49th chapter of Isaiah. Isaiah had the prophecy that clarified this one. He gave the words how that when that time comes, (49: 16-17) Isaiah said this, “ Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. (17) Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. Yes Saints, if Jerusalem is going to be inhabited again by Jews, as Israel creates the opportunity for it to be, then God is going to cause the leadership of Israel to make decisions that will ultimately take those other people out of there; and send them back across the river where they came from; and that will allow the Jews come home in mass numbers. When you read that 49th chapter of Isaiah, which says they will come and there will be no place found for them, meaning there will be no houses. They will come in mass numbers. I want to read to you a little bit pertaining to when this all starts. That is when we can open up to the 2nd chapter of Zephaniah. A lot of people might think, Well when this starts, oh this is a war that could go on for months. No. Gentile minds do not look at it the way God means for it to be understood. When Israel fought wars in previous times, she did not spend months and months accomplishing her purpose. Most all of them were over in a few weeks of time. I look at Zephaniah 2:1, because this prophecy was written to promote the condition that sets the stage for this thing of the Jews taking their land back, reclaiming it all the way to its ancient borders. They will not only hold the Gaza Strip, they will absolutely push everything all the way to the Dead Sea, because all of Judaea, the tribe of Judaea, has to have all of that ground. She only has a certain part of that now. Even in this roadmap thing, she has agreed to give up certain settlements within the west bank, which means, you put the prophecy down into a little old dried up picture that God is not going to allow. When we read this verse 1, I want you to know I read this and prayed about it and thought, There has to be a clear understanding of this. This 1st verse, says, (notice how it is worded in the natural. I read it in the Hebrew.) “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired.” That is the way the English version expresses it, but I noticed in the sideline here, where it says the word “desired,” means that has no shame. When I looked that up, I just thought, That many years ago God was looking right down here to this end time. He was seeing an element of people that were publicly, politically, and every other wise, going to try to stand in the way of God’s prophecy being fulfilled. I wrote, Oh you nations that have no shame, (That is what the Hebrew says, or in other words, Oh you nations that have never done wrong. See? No shame.) gather yourselves together, yes gather yourselves together as in the United Nations.” In 1945, when the present leadership of the United Nations was getting ready to have a first meeting out in California, someone made the suggestion, let us open this first meeting with prayer, and it was said, No we do not want to embarrass anyone. That would be this miserable bunch of hypocrites that signed and joined up to be a part of this body of nations. For what reason? Because it is anti-God, it is anti-guilt, and they have never done anything wrong, at least in their own eyes. In the last sixty years, just look at Africa, and the millions of people that have been butchered because they want to try and change the social structure. They have fostered revolutions, genocide, and on and on it goes. God is speaking here, to this whole body of world leaders. I have to say, Go on and preach that it is the beast if you must, but when God, one day, slaps that thing and bursts it all to pieces and makes the other people of the world realize how one sided it has been, you will see that thing die like a frost bitten cucumber. Listen, as I re-read this. “Oh you nations that have no shame, (You can add to that, you have no guilt, you do not accept any responsibility, and may I say this, They put out their ideas how to have world peace and every last one of them are against Israel ever being restored to its full land inheritance.) Yes, gather yourselves together (This is a warning.) as a United Nations, (That is who He is talking to.) before my anger is executed against you, before my anger is poured out upon you, because this is the day that the Elohim of Israel has spoken of old that He would do it to you.” Saints, it is coming. Then notice the 3rd verse of this scripture. “Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, (He is not talking to national leadership, He is talking to individuals. Therefore I am saying Faith Assembly, As we begin to see these things develop in our social, our military and political world, let us not go to sleep. One of these days God is going to turn this thing loose in the Middle East. He is going to rip and tear some things all to pieces and you are going to see this world economy suddenly take a plunge. Just look what our involvement in Iraq has turned into. Everybody thought, Oh our economy, oh my job, this and that. We have generations of people, and I am not making fun, I think people need a job to pay their debts and buy the things they want and need, but when that is all they live for, and they cannot see God in anything, they cannot be thankful, they just cannot be grateful for anything else. It is as though that dollar is all that is important. It is not. That is why God speaks well in advance of the day and hour when this whole world is just like this. The Lord said to the individual, Seek ye the Lord all ye meek of the earth. See, that is a universal invitation. It is not to any one nation: it is an invitation to all the people everywhere, a chance to be protected in the day of God’s anger, when He pours it out against all wicked and ungodly people of the earth.) Which have wrought (or has seen) His judgement; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s (Listen to this word.) anger.” In the book of Revelation, it speaks of God’s wrath. There is quite a bit of difference between His wrath and His anger. How many understand that? His wrath is poured out under the sixth seal as Jesus is making Himself visible in His return to earth, but to me, if I could just draw a map up here and show you how everything for the past sixty some years since WW2, has slowly programmed and shaped the social structure of the world for the end time, which is when the time comes to develop in the Middle East, all that the scriptures have made known to us. God has the Jewish people there by then, and He wants to give them back this land and establish it according to prophecy, because the devil, through these systems, has risen up against it. I have to say, God has taken His hands off until the time is right. He is letting them play with it in the political sense and the economical sense, but as they set up themselves to be sure that this will never materialize, that is when God will show this world who really runs things. From then on, it is going to be a completely different picture. Something has got to take the United Nations out of the picture, so that when they are out of the way, you are then looking at nothing but Europe. Listen to me! Europe has got to be brought to the forefront. Europe has got to speak, revealing what she is and what she is not, to finish this thing out. You cannot have two competitive, world political powers in operation at the same time. One has to fade out and the other take over. Since WW2, the American dollar has been the world’s major prop for their economy. Our money is what has helped stabilize the monies of Europe. The whole world economy has been built around it. Therefore when that hour of time comes, that the world beast system of Revelation is brought to the forefront, you cannot have a competitive power running alongside, like the United Nations. That is why it is worded the way it is. God is saying to the meek and righteous, Seek after this. “It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” So God is promising, or saying to an element of people, There is hope for you if you will take advantage of it. That is the way we have to look at and understand this scripture. You meek of the earth, seek to be humble. Do not allow the material things of your society to be above everything else in your life: Seek God while you can. If it says that, you have to realize, God knows those that are going to seek to do this, so now, let me read it the way I have written it. “Now all of you that can seek after meekness, and learn of God’s righteousness and of His judgments, you that can recognize these qualities, (That is what the world needs today, you know it, because we have a modern society that seek after ball games, all kinds of entertainment and God is out of the picture. You hear, We need more jobs, we need more money, more luxury, more pleasure. When you talk like that, you will also get to feeling like, We don’t need God right now: we need more time to enjoy life. That is the spirit of the America society today.) it may be that the Lord will provide you a means of being hid and protected in the day of the Lord’s (not wrath) anger.” I am saying this, because you have not seen God really angry yet, but you will. If you live long enough, you are going to see how God gets angry. He is going to grab some things in this world and He is going to show this world, I sit in the heavens, I rule over the affairs of men. Pray.
FACING REALITIES OF IRAQ WAR
I was given certain articles today from different individuals, all of which I have read. It fits right in with conditions of the world and things that are going on now. I am going to ask Bro. Bud to read this, which is an e-mail from a soldier who has been home on leave and is getting ready to go back to Iraq. I was also given an article from a newspaper. I noticed how this journalist wrote about the conditions in Iraq. I am not going to read it all. I just want you to know I put as much dependence in these journalists that write articles, as I do a rabbit dog chasing a rabbit. I wouldn’t put one bit of dependence in one of them. On the other side of the picture, here is a soldier that was there. He has been home on a two weeks leave, and now he is going back. We are in a very crucial day of American history. It is a shame that our journalists have written some of the negative things. I don’t say that everything is false: I just say there are some things they do not bring out right, things that might let you and me know what the truth is. I am not going to read all of this, but it sounds just like we have not accomplished anything at all by being in Iraq.
“Fifteen months and a few days after American armed forced stormed into Iraq, limited sovereignty will be returned Wednesday to that battered nation. The handover has been hurried to meet an arbitrary deadline and is largely symbolic. There is little reason to believe the transfer will improve a distressing situation. This much is clear, President Bush has failed in Iraq to accomplish what he promised. What remains to be seen is whether the failure will prove a catastrophe. As U.S. representative Ike Skelton, democrat from Missouri, said earlier this week, in dismissing yet another Polyanna assessment by a top administration official, the four pillars of the administration’s plan were established, security, restoring essential services, creating conditions for economic development, and enabling the transition to democratic eyes in government. It is clear that these goals have not been achieved, at least not to the extent we had hoped, largely because we haven’t established security.” (That is what this journalist said. Now let’s let a soldier that has served one period of time there, speak to us in his own words. )
(Bro. Bud speaking) This is a letter from Ray Reynolds, a medic in the Iowa Army National Guard serving in Iraq.) “As I head off to Baghdad for the final weeks of my stay in Iraq, I wanted to say thanks to all of you who did not believe the media. They have done a very poor job of covering everything that has happened. I am sorry that I have not been able to visit all of you during my two week leave back home. Just so you can rest at night, knowing something is happening in Iraq that is noteworthy, I thought I would pass this on to you. This is a list of things that has happened in Iraq recently. Please pass it along and share it with your friends. Over four hundred thousand kids have up to date immunizations. School attendance is up eighty percent from levels before the war. Over fifteen hundred schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons stored there so education can occur. The port was renovated so grain can be offloaded from ships, faster than before. The country had its first two billion barrel oil export in August. Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time ever in Iraq. The country now receives two times the electrical power it did before the war. A hundred percent of the hospitals are open and fully staffed, compared to thirty five percent before the war. Elections are taking place in every major city and city councils are in place. Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city. Over sixty thousand police are patrolling the streets. Over a hundred thousand Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country. Over eighty thousand Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets, side by side with U.S. soldiers. Over four hundred thousand people have telephones for the first time ever. Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to prevent the spread of germs. An interim constitution has been signed. Girls are allowed to attend school. Text books that do not mention Saddam are in the schools for the first time in thirty years. Don’t believe for one second that these people do not want us there. I have met many people from Iraq that want us there and in a genuine way. They say they will never see the freedoms we talk about but they hope their children will. We are doing a good job in Iraq and I challenge anyone, anywhere to dispute me on these facts. So if you happen to run into John Kerry, be sure to give him my e-mail address and send him to Dennison Iowa. This soldier will set him straight. If you are like me, very disgusted with how this period of rebuilding has been portrayed, e-mail this to a friend and let them know there are good things happening.”
I thought that email was very fitting at a time like this when we hear so much negative stuff, because it is a political year. It is very uplifting on the part of this soldier. Having said that, I want to continue on with the subject we are on. I was also handed another newspaper clipping this morning and I also noticed it in the News this afternoon. They have recorded in the News how the U.N., through the world court, has openly condemned Israel and this security fence she has put up. They are demanding of Israel, Tear it down: you have to do this. The reason I am saying this, is because we have heard very little in the last three and one half years about the U.N., how she wants to express herself in what Israel ought to do. I do not intend to read all of this, but it fits right in with what I will say tonight, as I pick up our text.
“The highest U.N. court issued a sweeping condemnation of Israel’s occupation policies yesterday, siding with Palestinians in declaring that Israel must tear down the four hundred and twenty five miles long security barrier it is building in the West Bank. The decision cannot be imposed on Israel, but the Palestinians and the Arab League said they would seek action at the United Nations to force Israel to comply. In a sharply worded advisory opinion far harsher than Israel expected, the International Court of Justice said Israel should compensate Palestinians being harmed by the structure and return property confiscated for its construction. In addition to finding that the barrier violates international law, the court also called for a negative peace settlement that would see the establishment of a Palestinian state as soon as possible.”
The article goes on and gives a whole list of things, but that is all I will read at this time. Brothers and sisters, I am wanting to continue this message we are on, so turn to Zechariah, Where we will be reading. We know that ever since the year 2001, through the years prior to that, there were terrorist acts that brought about loss of life, destruction of property and so forth, but those events were minimal. Then in 2001, there was suddenly an outburst, which they call “intefada.” Since that time there has been more and more of these terrible atrocities pulled off by the Palestinian Arabs. The question can be asked, What is their motive? The Palestinian motive is, that they can create enough pressure, psychologically, and the loss of property and things, that Israel will give in and consent to retreat back to previous borders that were established by the U.N. before the Six Day War. Next Sunday we will put up a couple of charts showing what the U.N. has supervised as being that part of land that they petitioned to Israel. We must keep in mind though, in this prophecy, it is not necessarily talking about the whole land of Israel: it is talking about the beginning of the establishment of the recognized statehood and the government and that of authority, which has got to be established at Jerusalem. That cannot be done as long as the Palestinians want to claim part of the West Bank. We know, that in this prophecy there are two things that go together. That is the whole territory of Judah and Jerusalem as its capitol. With that in mind, all we have heard in the past number of years, is about the roadmap to peace. They want to establish a Palestinian state. I used to think, Bush chose the date, that by the year 2005, he wants there to be a Palestinian state with Jerusalem being the capital. I thought many times, Why would he choose 2005? We have already preached the Countdown. Something is definitely going to take place in and around about the time 2004 and ½ arrives. Well 2004 and ½ does not come about in the year 2004. It comes about halfway through 2005. How many realize that? Now we are already halfway through 2004, so we have a little less than six months left of this year. Therefore we can look ahead to the first six months of 2005, and remember that I have said all along, Somewhere all these prophecies are going to begin to link up. It is going to set a prophetic picture in fulfillment, so that by the time the world does reach 2004 ½ we are going to see something develop in the Middle East that is going to shake this world. I am not preaching this to scare anybody, but as I have studied this, read about the different things the U.N. has advocated, and the Arab League, what they want, there is not an Arab nation over there that really wants the Jews to have a state. One way or the other, they have all voiced themselves to be displeased with the idea of a Jewish state in the midst of the Arab world. Nevertheless we can say when we look at Zechariah 12, When God said, In that day, He was not referring to just any old day. He was speaking of a specific day, when God would cause Jerusalem to become a cup of trembling. That is a figurative expression of course. We know though, Jerusalem becoming the cup of trembling, is not just because it is a specific piece of land. The cup of trembling is the affect it begins to have on people, how they act nervously when they put in their two cents about the future of that piece of land. They begin to talk in a nervous tone because of the explosive potential. That is why the scripture says, To all them round about. Well that is not the world in general, that this is referring to: It is the Arab population, the Islamic people. When we come to the 3rd verse, it plainly states that Jerusalem, in the same period of time, would also become a burdensome stone. Why do we go from a trembling cup to a burdensome stone? What is the difference? It is because the Arabs are wanting Jerusalem to be the capital of their own political state, but when we come to the other side, this is not just looking at a random number of nations. This definitely has to be looking at an organization of nations who have voiced themselves and made their decisions in many ways in the years gone by. Now all of a sudden, in these last few weeks, since the U.N. has spoken, He (God) will make Jerusalem become a burdensome stone to all that become occupied with speaking, saying what ought to be done with Jerusalem. That is definitely pointing to the United Nations, though it was spoken more than two thousand before there was ever even a thought of it coming about. Saints, I am just saying tonight, The world in this day and hour does not realize what is going on. It is going to be hard for you and me to realize just how to understand all of this. Nevertheless there is definitely a situation in the Middle East that is not going to become any quieter or any easier to understand from the standpoint of the world. The end results of it all is what we understand, because twice, God speaks like, though all the nations of the world be gathered together against Jerusalem, I will cut them to pieces. We can read the exact wording from the Bible. (Zechariah 12:3) “And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” That is pretty plainly written. Do you know what that says to me? God looked down through the span of time and saw this modern United Nations, which has a history of sixty years since WW2, and have made many decisions on various world situations. I will have to say this, Not one good thing have they accomplished in that span of time. Yet various nations have pumped millions and billions of dollars into it to make it a voice of recognition concerning governmental things, and even after all their efforts, they have done absolutely no good whatsoever: It is a shame. That which America and European nations, and other nations are supposed to be represented in, we have to take note of the fact that some of the outstanding leadership does not come out of a capitalist nation: It comes out of a third rate nation in Africa. This is not pointing at the black man in general, but rather the present voice of leadership, Kofi Annan. He is known to be a man that has allowed genocide to go on in the country he came out of. Why should a man like that be allowed to be a voice of leadership, and through the government of this system, be allowed to dictate the terms of what ought to be done in other nations, when we can look at the record in his own nation, of what has been allowed. He allowed, or tolerated genocide between the various elements of the black people. I am bringing this out to say this, The United Nations as a system, is devilish. It has been of no earthly good to mankind. It is impossible for it to do any good because God is not in it.
WATCHING THE HAND OF GOD AT WORK
In front of us, in just a short time, we are going to see the hand of God take this prophecy of Zechariah off the written pages and fulfill certain things right before the eyes of the believing world. I believe that is why the prophecies were all written in the order and the fashion they were. God wants us to recognize how true His word is. Though the words were written more than two thousand and some years ago, yet the thought by revelation that they contain, when you look at it in the time we now live in, you cannot help but see how people are going to react, because of the results that will be brought out of it. I want to read the 2nd and 3rd verses together, as they speak about what Jerusalem will become. Notice the 2nd verse, when is this going to be? There is a warning to all the people around about. Who is that? That is the Arab people. Who are these Arab people? They are descendants of Abraham, yes, every last one of them, but not the seed that was to receive the great inheritance from Abraham. It was out of the seed of Abraham, that Mohammad came on the scene in the later part of the sixth century. He started this Islamic belief that is so widespread in this hour of time. This Islamic belief, through hundreds of years, right on up until now, has been responsible for death and destruction, the loss of life, ever since it got a foothold. To think that our own country, with our colleges and universities that are supposed to have history of bygone days, would fail to expose that thing is offensive to common sense. To think that some of the young people in our nation has been blinded to the reality of what this devilish religion has done in the world where it runs predominant, shows what the devil has been allowed to do. Within this nation, which was once looked upon as a Christian nation, blinded leaders have opened our doors for them to come in here and claim to be immigrants. What is behind it? I have to say, There is a conniving devil behind it. If the leadership of America does not wake up, then there is a terrible pain and great cry going to be sent up one of these days. Any leader, no matter who he is, that would dare to say, But the Muslims are a peaceful people, is a first class liar and a hypocrite, because he or she has turned their eyes away from the history that declares the record of the Muslim religion in the past. I am not standing here and telling you that every Muslim family that has immigrated here, has come here to study and practice terrorism. They may have come here just to enjoy the material benefits that they can get from our society, but they have also been a means that many others have used, following them, that have not come with the same motive. Many of them came here disguised as peaceful, only later to be instruments in the hands of Satan, to strike this nation a blow of destruction just like they did September 11, 2001. That is why I said the other night, If we started this war in Iraq, why should we even be concerned about rebuilding it with our own money? Did those characters that came over here and committed suicide by kidnaping the crews of these planes, come with money and deposit it somewhere for you and me to rebuild this nation after they destroy it? Over three thousand people lost their lives; and those murderers never paid for one funeral. Then I have to ask, Why should we have gone over there to rebuild that society? That is not the way we fought WW1. We have become a handout, a dish it out, a rebuild it empire, ever since the close of WW2. We have put the people of America in a future indebtedness that can never be paid; and all of this is beginning to add up to a sad picture. I pray that God will help us get our eyes open to reality very soon. Yes, the U.N. has looked upon Jerusalem and the Palestinian statehood, and Jerusalem has become a burdensome stone to them. In other words, somebody is obligated to make the final decision as to what we will do with this geographical area of disputed land. We know from the Bible, that God has already said He will give it back to the Jews, but the world as a whole, through the voice of this U.N. body, says no, we are the deciding factor as to how certain things will come about in the future world that we purpose to have. Well saints, I just have to say, They may start it, but they are not going to finish it, because God is going finish this entire thing His way. In the meantime, He is allowing the world leaders in the natural, to have a certain period of time to look at the issue. That is why I am saying tonight, Somewhere in front of us, you are going to see the mighty God of this book step in and begin to change the rule of things. Once God does that, there is not a politician this side of hell that is going to be able to change anything. It does not mean He is going to turn to God, but it does mean this, God is going to have His way, and He will fulfill everything that is written in this book (the Bible). With this in mind, I have to say, I will be glad when it all starts. I have to believe, those that want to doubt 2004 ½, if you wait another six months, and notice what begins to happens in the Middle East, you will know we are getting close to that time we have all been waiting for. I saw on Fox News this evening, Sharon has said, No to the world court, they will not tear down the fence. Well if Sharon says they will not tear down the fence, what does that mean? What will the world court do? Somewhere this whole issue in the Middle East is going to come to a head. It cannot go on and lay on the table of diplomacy for years on end. It is absolutely going to be dealt with by the hand of God. God warns the world, of how He will absolutely destroy, render useless and helpless, all the military might of the enemies that face Israel in that hour of time, regardless of decision making. Then God adds this in the 4th verse, (Zechariah 12:4) “In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.” I will open my eyes upon the house of Judah. To me, that stands out so vividly. It means God is going to take special interest in the issue. As God begins to look upon the leadership of Israel, if He opens His eyes to take a look at them, I believe that down here on earth, the governors, or leaders of Israel, are going to receive some kind of response from the Lord. Something is going to begin to dictate to their hearts and their decision making. Here is where we can say, God is going to step upon the scene, and He will start seeing that certain things are done the way the scriptures say. Of course it will bring about some hard feelings, but it will be done. It will not just be done and everything will be hunky-dory. It is eventually going to lead to a conflict. That is why, as He speaks here about the governors, how He will make them like a flame of fire, (and I use the term, in a pile of dry wood). They are going to set everything on fire that they come in contact with. God is going to make them like that. It is not them choosing to be that way: it is God making them that way. Therefore when we see that, it lets us know there is a time in front of us when Israel will not listen to the U.N. with their political diplomacy from any nation: She is going to be looked upon and guided by the unseen hand of God so she will not cooperate, will not go along with any of their plans for her. She is going to have to take a look at herself and what God requires, because these verses concern Jerusalem and Judea. When it says Judea, it means not just a little part of the west bank, but all of the west bank. If you have your Bibles, and if they have some of the old maps, you can look and see how much of that land Judah took, back in the days when it was a full fledged tribe. She owned everything from the Mediterranean coast, except the Gaza Strip, to the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. That is her tribal, geological inheritance. Therefore in this prophecy, the issue is, God is going to see that Jerusalem and the land of Judah, not part of it, will be given back and restored to the Jewish people. This is what sets the stage for what follows, because this is not going to come about by a lot of easy diplomacy. It is going to require Israel to become involved with warfare. That is why God speaks in the other verses, how He will be with the military capability of Israel in that day, but He will also be against the enemies’ military capability by doing what He said He would do. Because of that, it all boils down to this, No matter how much military equipment the Arabs have fostered and put together through aide money they have been loaned by the United States, God’s word says, I will see to it that every bit of it is rendered useless. When His written word says, I will smite every horse with blindness, it means exactly that, but you have to give it a modern day application, because their enemies will be depending upon horse power, and not literal horses. Just remember that, as you read (Zecariah 12:4), which says, “In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
LOOKING AT THINGS AS THEY ARE TODAY
Two thousand years ago, they used horses in warfare. The prophet did not see the giant planes we now have, nor the rockets and suchlike, but what he wrote lets us know what is going to take place. You have to translate that horse used in their military, and allow the language to speak of horsepower. Everything mechanical moves by the generation of horsepower in this modern day world. One thing we do know for sure, In the day of this fulfillment of prophecy, God will be with Israel in all her military endeavors. That is why, when this starts, and when God opens His eyes and turns Israel loose, she will accomplish what we read through the 8th and 9th verses, so there has been nothing but victory for these territories, accomplished by the Jews. We just have to realize that all of this is brought about by Israel being forced, by circumstances, into a military engagement which she had not planned on. That naturally takes us automatically into Zephaniah. This was the order that was shown me in that dream. I have heard no other preacher on TV or radio, ever use these prophecies at any time. They have treated them as though they are irrelevant, not important for our day. I have to say, Each one is a stepping stone. Each one is tied to the other one, so as we turn to the 2nd chapter of Zephaniah we see why I read what I did this morning. When the time does come that Israel itself, that little nation that has been pushed back, bottled in by the whole world with their feelings of anti-Semitism, especially all of Europe that is against her, is turned loose and directed by the Spirit of God, I believe there is a time coming when God is going to clean the throat of some of these blaspheming world leaders. When He does that, He will absolutely do it up right. I have looked at the 1st verse of Zephaniah 2, very carefully in the months since I saw this. I have read it from the Aramaic translation, I have read it from the Hebrew, so as I read it again this week, to me that 1st verse is a warning that God has issued to the nations that are going to be involved in trying to bring about and enforce this conglomeration of their ideas upon Israel. The way it is worded, makes one wonder, but just think, Twenty five hundred years ago this was spoken as a warning. “Gather yourselves together, yea, (Now He is talking of a multiple of issues, isn’t He?) gather together, O nation not desired.” When I read that from the different translations, it all comes out like this, O nations that have no shame, you that have said, We are not guilty, we have not done anything wrong, watch out. Look at this United Nations body, we are in this to establish liberty to the world, but we leave God out of it. God is only going to let them get so far and then He will tear their playhouse all to pieces, because this end time will definitely end out just exactly the way the Bible has declared it. Therefore I am saying tonight, It is God’s way of warning the nations that feel so self righteous, those who are self appointed know-it-alls. They have no guilt, no shame, and they are not even afraid to voice their decision making upon this little nation of people and treat them as though they are nothing. That is really what it all amounts to. Notice, “Before the decree bring forth, (meaning before it is actually fulfilled and executed) before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, (We can see that the prophecy begins, and God is warning the world that is faced with decision making and asking, What will you do with my people? What do you advocate to be done with these people? He gives the warning years in advance because He knows exactly what they are going to do. That is why it is pointing the finger right at that United Nations body. They want to try to tell the Jews, Now you will do as we dictate, because we are the twentieth century voice that is going to set forth the ideas and plans for nations to abide by in the days to come. Little does the United Nations know that they are destined for a very short life span. Let us look at it very carefully. Before the decree come or bring forth, meaning before it is even executed, before God’s anger is executed, which is what God intends to do, He has already warned them.) before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you.” As I said this morning, It is not the wrath of God. The wrath of God does not come until the sixth seal of the book of Revelation, which will be under the second coming of Christ, His physical return. He is coming to execute the wrath of God; and that is when the mountains will flee, islands will sink away and the dead bodies will lie from one end of the earth to the other. This is talking about an issue in a certain area of the world, an area where God put His name thousands of years ago. God placed His name there, then His temple was built there. The household of David became the people that occupied this city. That is why it was called for many centuries, the city of David. He is of the tribe of Judah, but remember it was all his relatives. That is why it was called the city of David. With this in mind, I just have to say, Now that we hear the U.N. speaking so blatantly, so openly, this could be getting closer than we realize. It could be time for us to begin to watch. Once this thing is executed by God, do not think for one minute it is going to take seven years to fulfill it. Some of you were not even born in 1967, when Israel made such a remarkable stand against their enemies that were determined to drive them into the sea, but a lot of us older ones remember some of the testimonies that came out of that war. It marked a great victory for Israel.
GOD ON THE BATTLEFIELD
I will never forget the month of October 1968, when I was privileged to take my first trip to Israel; and we were sitting there in our seats talking about what we hoped to be able to see, and how some wanted to walk where the prophets had walked, and walk where Jesus walked and all those things. This man who was a Jew was sitting about two or three rows behind us. He heard a few words that were spoken and moved out of his seat and came up and sat down behind us and said, I understand you gentlemen are on your way to Israel. We said, Yes. He introduced himself and continued speaking. He said, In my profession, I am a military man, a general. However when he was not in that capacity, he was the president of a bank. As we talked with him, he began to let us know, you gentlemen do not know how that Six Day War had many stories that came out of it, how God was on the battlefield, and angels were seen standing with Jewish soldiers when they were being surrounded by the enemy. He told us of when the tide of events began to swing and the Egyptian army began to flee and go back toward Egypt, down through the Sinai, and that he was the commander of an armored division. He said, We were trying to keep in sight of the fleeing Egyptian armed setup, but we could hardly keep in sight. He said, Many times we would stop and set our guns on a certain target in front of us, hoping we would be able to make some kind of hit. This is the way he said it, It looked like many times there must have been an angel somewhere in the trajectory of the shell, and he took it and guided it right on to the target. He said, It is a known fact, God was manifested on that battlefield to more than one Jewish soldier. Yet when it was all over, you did not hear the Israeli government speaking of or printing one thing about it. That is how natural minded people are. We were building this church in 1967, while that war was going on. Bro. Mayfield, a brother that has now gone on to glory, had his little radio sitting right here every day, so we could keep up with what was happening. Every few minutes it would be announced, We interrupt this program to bring you the latest development in Israel. I will never forget this one morning, when the announcer said, We interrupt this program, to let you know that the war in the Middle East has come to a close. The Arabs have surrendered and Israel is the victor. I have to say, For two or three days, we heard over the radios, as the News came in, more than one extraordinary account, and not from a janitor or street cleaner, and it would be said, Admiral So and So, General So and So, has made these comments. They said it was utterly impossible for Israel to be the victor because she faced three enemies, Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Yet she destroyed the air force of Egypt and Syria. How did she do it? God gave Israel’s military the wisdom and ability. This general told us about the people of Israel, that her security officials said they had been planning for weeks ahead of time. They were planning on building ten thousand wooden caskets to help bury the dead. They figured they would suffer that many casualties when the conflict started. They did not have one civilian casualty. It was all fighting force casualties. Therefore we know the hand of God was in this conflict on Israel’s side. As we listened to this man, we could not help but realize it was a war that God had ordained (allowed to come about). If you go back to the records, they took everything from the Jordan to southern Lebanon, all that which became known as occupied land was all actually the land that belonged to ancient Israel. How many realize that? With that in mind, think of the different articles, written in different magazines by the lesser type of people who did not exalt themselves to become important voices, but they could not keep from pointing out how the hand of God was in that conflict. Israel had been in the 1973 war which was forced upon her, because her enemies are constantly thinking up ways to try to destroy her. The whole world, including the United States, has stopped talking, about everything except that Israel is supposed to give up some of this land and there is to be a Palestinian state. Our nation has been a very influential voice in the decision making at the U.N., and she is the one that has put forth the roadmap of how Israel is to do that for the sake of peace. The U.N. is all for that idea, which shows me the body of the U.N. international government has no vision whatsoever of fulfilling anything according to God’s word. They have every intention of going completely contrary to it, as though God does not even exist anymore. Well I have to say, from 1967 and onward, it has looked as though God just began to fold His hands and let things come and go as world leaders determine. You have seen what has developed in the Middle East. The world in general does not realize, Israel has acquired, manufactured and she now has some of the best equipped military fighter planes there are in this world. She has a rocket system second to none of her enemies. With all this, I can see, that when this thing does break loose in the Middle East, Israel is not going to fight this with her hands tied behind her back. Rest assured, God is going to get within the military capacity of Israel, and He is going to multiply everything many times over. This is exactly why God is sending this warning out, found in the 1st and 2nd verses, to the world. No, they have no shame, they are not guilty, they are not responsible, yet they are dictating their decisions, what ought to be and how it ought to be done. So God has sent the warning. Therefore It behooves people to sit up and take notice. Notice how, in that 3rd verse, there is a warning, or admonition to the individual person of the world. “Seek ye the Lord, (All you presidents? All you governors? Seek the Lord all you senators and congressmen? Is that what He is saying? No.) all ye meek of the earth, (There are people tonight, on this earth, that have more sense than our politicians that think they know so much. They know exactly what is getting ready to happen. That is the natural side of the picture.) which have wrought His judgment; (They have seen what His judgments have been in the past.) seek righteousness, seek meekness.” I am saying tonight, please, let us not go to sleep on this: It is not something to take lightly. Let us purpose in our hearts, because I have said this before, If God lets you me live until the rapture does take place, you are going to see this fulfilled right before your very eyes. You are going to see the world, in the political and economic structure around you, affected in a dramatic way. The reason I say this, is because we had hardly gone to war in Iraq, when people of our nation began to complain, This war is affecting the economy of our nation: we are losing jobs, we are losing this and we are losing that. Well if what we have done in Iraq can affect the economic situation in the world that much, what do you think this is going to do? That is why God warned like this. Do you think God is worried about Wall Street? He is no more concerned about Wall Street than a hound dog on the street would be. There are a lot of people that might not like my way of speaking, but that is the way I feel about it. God has an objective and He has a vision He wants to fulfill in the heart of simple people that are willing to recognize Him. I have to say, I believe there is an element of people on this earth, not just in one nation but in many different nations, that are not willing to listen to every politician and newscaster, that God will deal with when this end time windup is in motion. God is going to use the occasion to talk to a lot of simple people. That is why He said in Zephaniah, It may be that you will be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger. I believe God has a way of hiding people that respect Him and His ways. I believe He has a way of protecting them as He begins to shake nations. He is doing that to make people begin to realize, He is going to see that His word is brought about and fulfilled precisely. Then we notice, when this thing does start, once the military side of it begins to go into affect, it is very strange, the Gaza Strip which for months now has been the issue, giving up, giving up, giving up what we read about the Gaza Strip. Let us read what it says about the Gaza Strip. Verse 4, shows us the military is on the move. “For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon (All these names are ancient cities of the Palestinians in ancient time, when this was their homeland.) a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, (That is another ancient city of the Philistines. Who is doing the driving out? The Jews, her army is on the move.) and Ekron shall be rooted up. Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, (This is a little further on down at the end of the Gaza Strip, laying next to Egypt. That is where the Israeli troops have uncovered some of these tunnels coming in from the Egyptian side, arms being smuggled in, explosives and such.) the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the Lord is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, (That is what the Gaza Strip originally was known by, hundreds and thousands of years ago.) I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.” Now I want to say this tonight, When this war starts, do not think for one minute that Israel is going to say, We want to be careful now, so we don’t kill too many. Get that out of your thinking. I can show you, God is going to get angry: He is getting very angry about it. Look at those Muslims over there in the Middle East, how they have come out of there, and came into our own nation. They have built their mosques and they bow with their heads on the floor. They are waiting for the day when they can turn loose on us. America needs a jihad. Our politicians sit back with their fingers crossed, Well we believe, until their intent is proven, we have to be willing to listen to them. I have to say to our politicians, You are a bunch of blinded hypocrites: you have sacrificed your own people just to please your own selves, and have ideas of what you want to make this world to become. I pray for the day when God does turn things loose, because, instead of the poor man of the streets of America, May it be the educators and politicians of America that have to hang their head and cry, because it has hit them right where it hurts. When we see this taking place, God is going to use that Israeli military might and they are going to hit the Gaza Strip like we have not seen before. They are going to clean it enough that when they are through, there is not going to be enough Palestinians left to sweep the streets. We have Bible for all of this. I am not telling you they are going to kill all the people. No. But they are going to execute God’s anger against this bunch of Muslims, because the time is coming when there is going to be a temple built in Jerusalem. It is not going to be built just by Jews. The Bible tells me the hour is coming when that bunch of Muslims that have cut the heads off of countless numbers of people in ancient times and even on down to this hour, after they see how God uses that little army of Israel, they are going to come crawling on their knees, We want to help you build your temple. Israel will not have to beg them to, they will want to. Why? Because, their eyes are then open to reality, as they have seen the God of Israel on the move. As I read this, I have to say, I am reading between the lines. I know this is for our day, when we see what the Muslim world is doing. They have their agents all over this planet. They have got one thing in mind, destroying the capitalistic world and putting in that Muslim religion. If God was to let that happen, then you will never live to see these scriptures fulfilled. Verse 6, says, “And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks. And the coast shall be for (notice) the remnant of the house of Judah.” This tells me it is going to be the Jews that basically make up the tribe of Judah, that are going to restore that territory back to its original boundaries, and they are going to take the Gaza Strip. You read the rest of that verse, what it says. It will not take them three weeks, but more like three days, the way God wants to use that Israeli army. I will have to say, Every Palestinian will be scared half to death, because there is going to be a fear of God put into this thing. God will be angry. When God gets mad, the world is going to shake. When that is done, Israel is only on the beginning side. Then she takes a look across the Jordan. When you finish reading the 7th verse, that cleans up everything in the Gaza Strip. Now it turns across the Jordan River. In Verse 8, God said, “I have heard the reproach of Moab, (This is the Jordanian people.) and the revilings of the children of Ammon, (That is more Jordanian people.) whereby they have reproached my people.” For centuries they have stood over there jumping up and down with glee and doing everything they could do to make life for the Jews almost impossible. That is why, when we go back several hundred years, back when the crusaders were there, and when the Muslim religion was getting hold and embedding in the Arab world, as they got stronger in the south, it was the Muslim armies that came and drove the Crusaders completely out, and that caused the people across the river to move across and possess this land. It says, over in Obadiah, about the people of Edom, which are the people of Esau, and the prophet Obadiah, wrote this eight hundred years before Christ, so you can see how he looked down through the long span of time and saw the Edomites, that the day would come when the Babylonians would be sent by God to judge and bring chastisement upon the Jewish people. Obadiah saw also, how the Edomites would stand there looking across the river and say, Tear it to the ground, tear it to the ground: Then that which is theirs, will be ours. That was their thoughts. Well God has not forgotten the time when they did that. The world has, but I can show you in the Bible, that God has not forgotten about any of it. I find in the Psalms, chapter 137, verses 1-4, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. (2) We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. (3) For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. (4) How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? Well what those Edomites did was remembered: The Jewish people knew what that bunch of Edomites had done, so listen to them in Babylon. You find in verse 7, what was said because of it. “Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation thereof.” Those Jewish people did not forget; and neither has God forgotten: You are soon to be looking right at it. Jerusalem is the centerpiece. This entire thing is looking right at Jerusalem. The devil thinks he is going to run it his way, but I guarantee you, that is just his thought: God will wind it all up HIS way. The world has not seen a miracle war fought yet. What happened in the Six Day War, they soon forgot, but God is going to give them one in the weeks and months ahead, they can never forget, because it is going to be a real eye opener. It is going to be a miracle, the miraculous display of His majesty, of His omnipotency, and when it is over, there will be human beings from one end of this planet to the other, saying, There really is a God that fights for Israel. Yes there is: He is the Elohim of Israel. It plainly tells in this chapter, which we will get to the next time, that every man from the different borders of the Gentiles, will worship the God of the Jew from His own land, because they have been permitted to see His power, His sovereignty, His majestic displayed. I do not know exactly when, but God is getting ready to turn something loose in the Middle East, and it is not just going to be a miracle rocket that some soldier has pushed a button on: It is going to be God showing His sovereignty and His majestic power; and once He does it, He is going to get attention worldwide. Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, I pray tonight, take these words and use them and help us as Christians to begin to realize, you are slowly shaping the societies of this world to get them ready for the end time picture. Help us Lord, to recognize the hour we are living in, and let not one be found sitting back in the shadows, entertaining ourselves through the luxuries of relaxation. God help us to see the reality and to be able to see the beauty of truth itself, and to be able to watch and long to see you Lord, in your sovereignty, as you do these things your word speaks of, that you can become known to all. Lord, I thank you tonight, that I know you are real, and that you are a God that longs to speak to your people, to show them your sovereign will for mankind, and your majestic power that will bring it all to fulfillment, and may all know how truthful your word is. Lead us Lord, in the days to come. In Jesus Christ’s precious name we pray. Amen.